Kylie Minogue: The ultimate showgirl

Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue is in town to perform at her first Middle East public concert at Dubai Festival City Friday.

Nearly 20,000 fans are expected at the venue where Kylie, 40, is expected to belt out some of her most popular songs including The Loco-Motion, I Should Be So Lucky, Red-Blooded Woman, Can’t Get You Out of My Head and Spinning Around.

The concert, part of Kylie’s X 2008 Tour, is an enormous multi-million dollar production that has already travelled to 21 countries across Europe. More than half a million people have already seen the show and been wowed by Minogue’s performance.

Troubled times

But the tour has not been flawless for Kylie, as she faced quite a few challenges along the way. Recently, the singer had five of her suitcases stolen just hours before she was to get on stage in Bogota, Colombia.

The suitcases contained computer parts, equipment, costumes and passports of some of Kylie’s entourage.

The star, who enjoys Flake chocolate bars and Thai food, rose to prominence in the mid-1980s through her role in the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing her career as a recording artist in 1987.

Her popularity waned during the early 1990s, but she came back in the limelight as a pop artist in 2000, becoming well-known for her elaborate music videos and expensively mounted stage shows.

She overcame breast cancer diagnosed in 2005 and returned to performing and recording in late 2006 after a period of convalescence. Her latest and tenth studio album, X (2007) – her first release since 2004’s greatest hits compilation Ultimate Kylie and first studio album since 2003’s Body Language – pairs her breathy, elegant vocals with her trademark stylish electronic beats on such singles as 2 Hearts, Wow, In My Arms, and the first US single All I See.

Where: Dubai Festival City

When: November 21. Doors open at 2pm and the show starts at 9pm

Carry on Kylie

• Kylie was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with an OBE for her services to music.
• Over the course of her career, the sexy blonde has sold 60 million records.
• Kylie’s Showgirl – The Greatest Hits Tour drew in a total audience of nearly 700,000.